


Sherlock Holmes and the Fourth Wall

by Jasjabberwocky



Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 10:30:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9230924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasjabberwocky/pseuds/Jasjabberwocky
Summary: If Sherlock Holmes is so good at deduction, surely he can work out that he's fictional.





	

“Watson,” said Holmes, “I’ve uncovered something rather strange. My evidence has been pointing now for quite some time to the fact that we are fictional.”  
I smiled, certain that he was having a joke at my expense. “Well, I know you haven’t always approved of the writing style in my reports of your exploits, but I think that’s going a bit far …”  
“No, you misunderstand me. You are not the author of those stories, but the first person protagonist. We are fictional, Watson. Think about it. You must have noticed, as I have, how the details that I detect seem to fill in as I explain them, and how inadequately described you are. There has never been a good opportunity for the author to describe you, because you are written in first person, and thus do not observe yourself. It’s quite obvious really. I don’t know why I didn’t spot it sooner.”  
“Holmes, this is ridiculous.”  
“Oh, Watson, do pay attention. If you think logically for a moment about my deductions it is clear that they would never hold up in real life. Why, there are myriad possible explanations for the details I observe, and yet the conclusions I draw never fail to be correct.”  
“You’re a very intelligent man, Holmes.”  
“Indeed. This does not detract from the fact that I am also a fictional one. And what about Reichenbach! Did you never think that the manner in which I evaded Moriarty was just a trifle too unlikely?”  
“Well . . . it did seem a rather convoluted turn of events. But even if this is true, which I doubt, what do you intend to do about it?”  
“Why, find the author, of course.”


End file.
